Baidarka Resources

Books

A step-to-step guide to building Arctic kayaks: Greenland kayak and Aleut Baidarka, and
their paddles. It is also a skill guide to learn how to paddle those kayaks.
Size: 20x26 cm - 152 pages;
Publishing date: 2007;
Language: french
Le Canotier Bookstore

Building the Greenland Kayak: A Manual for Its Contruction and Use
by Christopher Cunningham (editor),
published by International Marine, 2002

Building a Greenland Kayak by Mark Starr,
published by Mystic Seaport, 2002

Brian Nystrom writes: "Mark's book details the method they use in their kayak building
classes and contains many interesting variations on the building techniques of
Peterson, Morris, Cunningham, et al. I would definitely recommend it as a good addition
to one's kayak building library."
QajaqUSA has a longer description from the publisher,
read it here.
(Click here for details, AMAZON)

Baidarka by George Dyson,
published by Alaska Northwest Publishing Company, 1986

Good coffee table book. Lots of great pictures.
Lots of history, a couple chapters on construction using aluminum for
a frame and heat shrinkable nylon for a skin.(Click here for details, AMAZON)

Bark Canoes and Skin Craft of North America by Adney and Chapelle
published by the Smithsonian Press, 1983

Mostly surveys of canoes by region. Several chapters on skin/frame boats.
There is a detailed rolling description at the end of the book authored by
John D. Heath with pictures taken by Kenneth Taylor from Scotland in Greenland 1959.
(Click here for details, AMAZON)

Qajaq: Kayaks of Siberia and Alaska by David Zimmerly published by the
Alaska division of State Museums, 1986 (reprinted 2000)

Not much history. Good book for someone who is building a baidarka.
Wolfgang uses wood, canvas and twine. Wolfgang is also
the founder of the Native Watercraft Society. (See below)(Click here for details, AMAZON)

You! Yes you! You really can build your own kayak.
This is a good starting book for anyone looking to build a kayak or to learn
about building kayaks. You'll be paddling within 70 hours and $200.

Putz writes engagingly, giving the reader confidence that the project is
really possible, even without full size plans. The book is intended for
traditional canvas, but it is easy to modify materials and methods used,
even for complete novices!

The very first kayak built according to the plans and drawings in Putz's
book resulted in a delightful craft which garners inquisitive and admiring
looks, in addition to being a conversation starter.
(reviewed by Michael O'Flynn)
(Click here for ordering info, AMAZON)

Hooper Bay Kayak Construction by David W. Zimmerly

This book documents the construction of a Bering Sea
style-kayak made in the community of Hooper Bay, Alaska in
October and November 1976 under the direction of Dick
Bunyan. Written as journal entries, the text details
construction from the initial splitting of the wood to the final
fitting of the cockpit lashings. Each step is illustrated with
black-and-white photographs and line drawings. The author
has also included detailed measurements of the kayak, a
glossary of Yupik terms, and descriptions and drawings of
kayak accessories. (2000)
(Click here for ordering info from the author's website)

Building Skin-On-Frame Boats by Robert Morris

The bulk of the book is devoted to in depth instructions on building a West
Greenland kayak, but several other skin on frame boats are covered. There
are chapters on North Alaska recovery and retrieval kayaks, a Netsilingmeot
kayak, a 17" by 19' baidarka, a pram dinghy, a Providence River boat a
Canadian canoe, an Upper Yukon River canoe and a corracle.

Each of the boat chapters deals with slight variations on the skin on frame
technology, such as using an inwale/outwale structure rather than rib
mortises, or the several different methods of determining rib lengths and
hull shape, or the advantages/disadvantages of various finishes.
(Click here for ordering info, AMAZON)

John Brand's Little Kayak Books Vols. I, II & III.

John Winters, writes:
"These are essential books for anyone with a serious interest in
the original Inuit kayaks or with a desire to build a replica."
Click here to read my book review.
(Available from www.littlekayakbook.co.uk)

Inuit Kayaks in Canada : A Review of Historical Records and Construction, by Eugene Yuji Arima
Based Mainly on the Canadian Museum of Civilization's Collection (Mercury), 1988.

The book 'Inuit Kayaks in Canada' by E.Y.Arima complements Zimmerly's
'Qajaq' and between the two they cover all of North America. Though not
as glossy as 'Qajaq' it has more detailed info for the builder along
with early explorers accounts and Inuit stories. The focus is on three
main types of kayaks which are the Mackenzie Delta type, the
Copper/Netsilik/Caribou type and the Eastern Canadian types.

Skinboats of Greenland, by H. C. Petersen

Comprehensive book about kayaks and umiaks, building instructions need to
be more detailed. For availability see
Neriusaaq Bookstore.

Surprisingly complete and heavily illustrated book exceeds its scholarly purpose and
and could be downright inspirational to anyone with a mind to explore
the possibilities of skin-covered technology for larger nautical craft.

Den Grønlansdke Kajak Og Dens Redskaber by P. Scavenius Jensen

Danish book but detailed information about the carried gear, some line
drawings and kayak characteristics.

Videos

Documents one year in the life of Nanook, an Eskimo (Inuit) and his family. Describes the
trading, hunting, fishing and migrations of a group barely touched by industrial technology.
Nanook of the North was widely shown and praised as the first full-length, anthropological
documentary in cinematographic history. (from IMDB)
(Click here for ordering info, AMAZON), also available from
Kino Video.

The Wedding of Palo"Palos Brudefaerd" (1935)

The film, by the famous Greenland anthropologist Knud Rasmussen, is a
semi-documentary of Inuit life in East Greenland filmed in 1932. I say
"semi-documentary" because the film has a fictional plot, and European
technology, such as guns, is for the most part excluded. However, the
actors are all Ammassilik natives (the heroine appears in one of the
plates in F. Simpson Chapman's Watkins' Last Expedition) wearing
traditional clothing and paddling then-contemporary skin kayaks. The
film includes scenes of hunting a bear from a kayak and closeups of the
Greenland sliding stroke, but no rolling scenes, except for one unsuccessful
attempt at the end.

One of my favorite scenes is a montage of a kayaker paddling alongside an
umiak on the way to the family's winter quarters. I think his graceful
sliding stroke, which contrasts strongly with Nanook's clumsy-looking stroke using
the longer and wider East Arctic paddle, strongly illuminates some of the
advantages of the shorter and narrower Greenland paddle. Another revealing
scene, which belies the mistaken notion that Greenland paddles were made
narrow for lack of wood, shows the Greenlanders splitting a large
driftwood log into roof beams.

Sadly, kayaks are no longer made or used in Ammassilik, even as a pastime,
Ammassilik being too far from West Greenland for the Greenland Kayak Club
to have had any influence there yet. However, Manasse Matthaeussen, who
reportedly did the stunt work at the end of the film, was able to pass
his knowledge along to the founders of the club in the 1980s, providing
a continuity of skill and technique lacking on the other side of the continent.

The Wedding of Palo was the first part of a projected trilogy on life in
Greenland. Unfortunately, Rasmussen, who was highly regarded by the
Greenlanders, died the year after the film was made, of a disease contracted
in Greenland. We are fortunate that this one film survives.

"Kayak Way, in association with Walrose & Hyde,
is the most complete source of fully-dimensioned
kayak and umiak plans for the home builder.
Our plans include details on set-up, materials selection, scantlings
and construction. W&H offers two
sets of kayak plans (30-40 page instruction book with each) and three sets
of umiak plans."

Building plans for a wood strip baidarka based on the lines from one of
the baidarkas in the book "Contributions to Kayak Studies". Plans include
a source list, instructions, and full scale lines for stations, cockpit,
and hatches. Rob Macks is the person behind Laughing Loon.